User blog:Alemon97/DEATH BATTLE! Season 2 Retrospective
Well, seeing how my Season 3 Review went pretty well, I decided: "You know what, I think it's time I do a DEATH BATTLE! retrospective." So for the next couple months or so, I'll be rewatching and reviewing past Death Battle Seasons to see how well they hold up. This time, I'll being doing a retrospective on Death Battle Season 2, and after that, I'll get to doing a Season 1 retrospective sometime later. If you've seen my Season 3 Review, you know that I don't give numerical scores for episodes after reviewing them, instead, I'll be listing Pros and Cons for each episode and give it a rating of either "Good", "Meh..", or "Bad" after looking at all the Pros and Cons, followed by my thoughts on the episode. Get ready to hear some more popular, unpopular, or any other opinion in between. And if you disagree with me on certain episodes, that's fine, but I'll stress that this is MY opinion. Enough talk, let's do this! Episode 26: He-Man VS Lion-O 'PROS' *HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA reference in He-Man's analysis and the fight's aftermath *Analysis was pretty good *Boomstick questioning 80's logic *Interesting to know they both fought Superman *Some good jokes *How this fight basically plays out like a cheesy 80's cartoon *Battle Cat's role in all this (When Lion-O suspects He-Man of "animal cruelty")... *Animation's pretty decent, for what they had at the time, anyway *Voice acting's nice (on a side note, who else was introduced to Xander Mobus through this?) 'CONS' *'...Looking back though, was Battle Cat really neccesary? *Fight was a little slow *The more I think about the aftermath...whelp, the Thundercats are dead... *Climax was kinda underwhelming *Boomstick's especially bad pun in the post-fight analysis 'Overall' Going back to the first episode of Season 2, this was a pretty good start. The way they tried to replicate the 80's feel in this fight was nice, and it made for some pretty good jokes. It's also rather interesting to know that both of these characters have fought against Superman at some point in their lives. Plus, the way this fight started with Battle Cat being a "victim of animal cruelty" in Lion-O's eyes was pretty funny. Combine that with some jabs at 80's culture, and you've got a pretty entertaining way to kick off Death Battle's second season. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 27: Shao Kahn VS M. Bison 'PROS' *"Quick, make me forget that shit!" *MASTER BISON, HE'S OUR HERO!!! *A couple other good jokes *Now I know why Bison, Vega, and Balrog had their names switched internationally. *Analysis was okay... *Animation was decent 'CONS' *...Though Kahn's was a bit lacking in that it didn't really mention anything regarding physical feats *Final Bison was pretty underutilized *I have a hard time believing that Kahn can keep up with Final Bison the way he did *Honestly, I don't know how to feel about the result 'Overall' Hoo boy, this episode. I'll be honest, I don't really know what to make of this one. While the fight animation was decent overall and the oh so classic "M. Bison: Our Hero" joke is there, the result leaves me rather puzzled. With how Kahn managed to keep up with Final Bison the way he did and the latter being pretty underutilized all things considered, I feel like Kahn's victory felt a little...empty. But again, the one joke and the decent animation is enough for me to give it a pass, though I won't really consider rewatching this one in the future. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 28: Ryu Hayabusa VS Strider Hiryu '''PROS *Some good jokes *How Boomstick reacts to doing an unfamiliar ad *Good analysis... *The guard releasing the Wilhelm Scream after being killed by Ryu and Strider *Some good, faced paced animation... *How the climax seemingly recreates the opening of Ninja Gaiden 1 on NES *The Robo-Hawk dropping a bomb on Hayabusa's corpse after Hiryu wins 'CONS' *...although I'm not sure about the outcome *...though it feels kinda slow at some points *Not really sure about Hiryu's superior speed, considering Hayabusa's dodged lightning 'Overall' This was a pretty good episode. While the outcome and reasoning feels rather questionable, the episode does showcase a good, fast-paced fight between the greatest ninjas in gaming, even if there were some moments that kinda break the pace. So overall, a good fight. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 29: Ivy VS Orchid 'PROS' *Boomstick's got some pretty funny moments *The way Ivy and Orchid react to seeing eachother's breasts mid-fight. 'CONS' *Analysis was "Meh..." overall *Fight is nothing special *Kinda iffy about the results, especially after reading a certain comment chain and this prediction blog . *Not that many good jokes, TBH *Fight location is unexciting 'Overall' This episode doesn't really have much going for it. While Boomstick does have his moments here, that's all they are, moments. The fight itself is also one of the lamest I've seen so far, and this is as early as the fourth episode of the second season. All-in-all, this episode is nothing special, and I won't consider rewatching this one anytime soon. 'Rating' *''Bad'' Episode 30: Fox VS Bucky 'PROS' *Some good jokes *"Doomed to a pathetic & lonely existence for no good reason after Star Fox Command on DS" *Analysis is good... *The way the fight starts *The aftermath when Fox steals Slippy's legs and takes them for himself *Results were correct 'CONS' *'...Though they could've maybe talked a bit more about Bucky *For being Mali's first Death Battle animation, it hasn't really aged well *Rather slow-paced *Normally, I don't talk about sprites, but they look super pixelated at some points *Rather lazy backgrounds 'Overall' So, here we head into Mali's first Death Battle animation. My thoughs? Eh. While the results were correct, and the way the fight starts and ends is pretty funny, the animation doesn't really hold up and it feels pretty slow at some points. Plus, the battlefield here looks kinda lazy, I would've preffered if it were someplace like Corneria, or a planet somewhere in Bucky's Universe. In the end though, I can't really say I dislike the episode, I mean, there are some good moments. But aside from that, it's not much. Not the worst, IMO, but not worth rewatching either. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 31: Terminator VS RoboCop '''PROS *A number of good jokes *Overall good analysis, and that rescuing Sting in WCW though. *Voice acting is good *For being Torrian's first Death Battle animation, it's still a pretty enternaining fight to watch... *Use of quotes from their respective films... *The way Terminator vows to return, only to die 'CONS' *...though I will admit, it does have problems *...though I would have liked to hear some more quotes from RoboCop's movies *Rather iffy about the result 'Overall' For being Torrian's first animation, this was a decent start to his career, though I still can't overlook the shitty lighting and ocassional animation errors. Anyway, as a battle between movie cyborgs, this was a pretty entertaining watch. While I am still rather iffy about the results, the fight itself was pretty cool. Plus, whoever did Terminator's voice in this did a pretty good Arnold Schwarzenneger impression and Xander Mobus does a pretty good job as RoboCop. So overall, a good fight and a decent start to Torrian's career. 'Rating' *''Good'' 'Episode 32: Luigi VS Tails '''PROS *The Unmaking Cannon scene in Luigi's analysis *Wiz reating to Tails flying with his twin tails *A couple good jokes *Analysis is good... *Fight animation is decent *Good music choices 'CONS' *'...though the more I think about it, considering what they took into account for Luigi, the outcome is wrong *Wouldn't the Thunderhand throw Tails off? *I personally have played ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I'm pretty sure that while in the Negative Zone, items thrown by Luigi are unaffected *The explanation for Tails' superior strength in the aftermath is full of BS *Isn't Tails' intelligence primarily used for science and not so much combat? '''Overall Oh boy, this episode...Not gonna lie, I don't really buy the outcome of this episode anymore, especially with what they took into consideration for Luigi. Also, the reasoning for Tails being outright stronger than Luigi is just plain stupid, you can clearly see Tails struggling to move that 10-ton weight with the footage they provided. And while I will agree with them in saying Tails is the smarter of the two, Tails' intelligence is primarily used in the field science and not so much in combat. It's for those reasons that this is probably my least favorite Mario VS Sonic ''themed fight in the series. That being said, though, I enjoy this episode in some regards. There were a couple of good jokes throughout the episode and the fight animation is pretty fun to watch. Plus, I've heard far worse reasoning for victors in certain episodes, ''(angrily grumbles) I'm looking at you ''Bowser VS Ganon...Still, I can't say that I enjoy this episode as a whole, I'd be lying if I said I did. Because like I said, I thought that the reasoning for Tails' win was trash, and this is coming from someone who's both a ''Mario AND a Sonic fan. And if you like this episode, then great, more power to you, it's just not my cup o' tea. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 33: Pokémon Battle Royale '''PROS *Boomstick's explanation for Blastoise's origin *Analysis is good *Some good jokes *How each of the Pokémon are fed Rare Candy to evolve when the fight begins *Am I the only one who finds Charizard's death kinda hilarious? Or do I just have a twisted sense of humor? *Blastoise eating Venusaur's flower in the aftermath and Boomstick reacting to Charizard's death *Animation is okay... *Reasoning is pretty solid 'CONS' *...though it could have been better *Rather slowly paced *The climax is pretty lame *The voice clips used for the Pokémon are rather unfitting 'Overall' This was a pretty interesting episode to say the least. Some of us have probably wondered who the Gen 1 best starter Pokémon is at some point in our lives, and this episode answers that question pretty well. As for the humor in this episode, that Blastoise origin, though...In terms of the fight animation though, it was pretty "meh", to be honest. Still, there is some good visual humor in this episode, and the reasoning is spot on, so I'll give this one a pass. If we ever get more Pokémon Battle Royales like this one, I'll be curious to see what's in store. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 34: Fulgore VS Sektor 'PROS' *Wiz punching Boomstick in the beginning of the episode, with the former claiming it to be a "glitch" *Step 1: Murder, Step 2: Crush Dreams, Step 3: Brain Handling, Step 4: Profit! *Analysis is decent 'CONS' *Fight animation is lame as hell *Death lacks any real lasting impact *Most of the jokes aren't that good *Fight is way too short *What was with that whole Steven Seagal joke in Fulgore's analysis? *They probably could've talked a bit more about both characters' feats 'Overall' Yeah, this episode isn't really anything special. The fight they showcased here is probably one of the worst I've seen in the series, it just feels like they just rushed to get this episode out to YouTube without giving this one much thought. All-in-all, not an episode worth revisiting anytime soon. 'Rating' *''Bad'' Episode 35: Godzilla VS Gamera 'PROS' *Wiz & Boomstick discussing Zilla "Take that, America." *The scene of Godzilla using his Atomic Breath to fly during his analysis *"Where were you on that one, ass brain?" *"Someday, Mr. Snappy...someday." *Apparently, Mana can be measured by using a Sega Dreamcast *A couple other good jokes *Boomstick's parody cover of Gamera's theme song *Analysis is good *Animation is good for the time... *Godzilla using the dropkick on Gamera *Outcome is reasonable enough 'CONS' *...although some of it has aged a bit poorly *Characters models look a bit off at points *I still don't know why Godzilla fires his atomic breath as Gamera carries him to space... *...or why he fires his atomic breath while falling into the water. *The way Godzilla suddenly appears a bit larger in the climax of the fight, kinda inconsistent with model size there *Death was a bit lacking in impact 'Overall' This was a pretty fun revisit. While admittedly, the animation has aged poorly in some respects, the episode still showcased a pretty entertaining fight between two of the most iconic movie kaiju. Plus, there were a couple of good jokes here and there throughout the analysis, and the Gamera theme song parody sung by Boomstick is just friggin' hilarious. Also, the jab at the 1998 Godzilla movie is pretty funny, indeed, take that, America. So overall, a good episode. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 36: Batman VS Captain America 'PROS' *They did a good with Batman's analysis by not having much recycled from Batman VS Spider-Man *Captain America's analysis is good *Some funny things in Cap's analysis 'CONS' *Most of the jokes were pretty bland *For being Zack's first fight animation, it isn't very spectacular *Fight is really, REALLY short *Death is pretty lame *Rather iffy about the outcome and reasoning *Anyone else feel like this episode was just plain filler? 'Overall' Did I really say that Flash VS Quicksilver was my least favorite Marvel VS DC ''fight? I'm sorry, THIS is my least favorite ''Marvel VS DC ''fight. While Bats' analysis is pretty fresh and new compared to Batman VS Spider-Man, and Cap's analysis was decent, the fight is just too lame and I'm still rather iffy about this episode's outcome to this day. Plus, as Zack's first Death Battle animation, it left much to be deserved. Also, anyone besides me feel like this episode was just plain filler? So yeah, this episode wasn't very good, next fight. 'Rating' *''Bad Episode 37: Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon 'PROS' *Some good jokes (Zechs or Sex anyone?) *Analysis is good *Kirbopher does a pretty good job voicing White Ranger *The way the fight starts and ends is hilarious *Animation is good *Tommy reacting to Epyon not exploding when the Tigerzord punches it *Outcome and reasoning are pretty solid 'CONS' *Zech's voice actor sounds like shit, though I wonder, was that was intentional? *Zech's scream in the hallucination sounded really cheesy *Felt a little slow at one point 'Overall' 'This was a pretty damn good episode. While I do have gripes with Zech's voice actor and the fight felt slow at one point, there were enough good jokes and the fight is pretty entertaining for a fight between two giant robots. Also, the way the fight began and the way it ended were just comedy gold. I'll consider rewatching this every once in a while. 'Rating *''Good'' Episode 38: Ryu VS Scorpion 'PROS' *"And diarrhea joke foot?!" *"Street Fighter is Karate Star Wars" *Cooking with Scorpion *Analysis was decent... *Animation is great, definitely a step up from Batman VS Captain America *Some cool closeups midway through the fight *The way they animated Ryu talking looks pretty damn good *The Penguin Animality in the aftermath of the battle 'CONS' *...though maybe they could've talked a bit more about feats for both characters *Killing blow was kinda lame *Can't really say I agree, Scorpion Netherrealm NLF, anyone? 'Overall' Pretty damn good stuff. While I can't say that agree with the result of the fight and they maybe could have delved a little more in regards to the characters' feats, the fight animation was too good for me to really care. Compared to Batman VS Captain America, this was definitely a step up for Zack. Plus, the touches in the animation such as Ryu talking and the closeups were pretty neat. Also, the Penguin Animality in the aftermath was just hilarious. So overall, faulty verdict, but good episode nonetheless. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 39: Deadpool VS Deathstroke 'PROS' *Deadpool interrupting Wiz and Boomstick throughout his own analysis *Deathstroke's comparisons to Captain America *Deadpool's jab at Goku VS Superman *Some other good jokes *Analysis is decent overall... *Voice acting is good *The way the fight starts *Deadpool saying "Fight!" instead of the announcer *Animation looks good *Deadpool using his dancing skills to fight Deathstroke halfway through the fight *"All the children in the audience, cover your eyes!" *Unlike Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, the way this fight ends doesn't defeat the show's purpose 'CONS' *...Though I'm not sure about the result *Animation kinda looks like it hasn't finished rendering at some points *Some weird animation errors 'Overall' I mentioned before in my Season 3 Review that I prefer this episode over Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie. And y'know what? My opinion still stands, cuz this was a really damn great episode. While I'm a bit iffy about the result and there were some weird animation errors, the fight itself was just awesome to see and Deadpool really gets a crapton of good laughs throughout the entire episode, he's just that funny. Also, the halfway point when Deadpool uses breakdancing to fight Deathstroke is just hilarious. Also, unlike Deadpool's future fight with Pinkie, the fact that someone actually dies here doesn't go against the show's purpose. So yeah, I like this episode a lot, one of my favorite Season 2 episodes in fact. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 40: Kirby VS Majin Buu 'PROS' *Some good jokes *Decent analysis *The ad for the SSG Goku Pop Figure *The way the fight starts *Great animation *Kirby's facepalm *Kirby's facial expressions throughout the fight *Kirby on the other side of the sun *The aftermath *Outcome is pretty reasonable 'CONS' * Fat Buu's sprites look a bit weird at the beginning, not to say that they're bad sprites. *Not really sure about Fat Buu's transformation into Kid Buu *So, Kirby just happened to eat a Miracle Fruit at some point before the fight? *Death was kinda lackluster 'Overall' Pretty damn great for a 2D episode, in all honesty, this is my favorite 2D animation from Mali. While I find some scenes in the fight to be rather questionable, the episode more than makes up for it by delivering a fun as hell fight with some comedic highlights here and there. Also, that ad for the SSG Goku Pop Figure that played before the fight even begins was just great. All-in-all, this episode is definitely a good one. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 41: Ragna VS Sol Badguy 'PROS' *In Ragna's analysis "His foul mouth gives the Angry Video Game Nerd a run for his money" *The "No one knows!" running gag *In Sol's analysis "Ironically Guilty Gear's main protagonist, despite the name" *Wiz trying to explain That Man to Boomstick *Some other good jokes *Analysis is good *Fast paced fight animation *Reasonable outcome 'CONS' *That one close up of Ragna looks a little weird compared to the rest of the background *The fact that the 60 FPS version of the fight is exclusive to Zack's YouTube channel *This is really just a nitpick, but: No english voice clips for Sol? *What was with the aftermath? 'Overall' For a fight between two video game characters that I know jack shit about, this was a pretty fun fight. Most of the complaints here are relatively minor, so I don't really have any real bad things about this episode, though I'm personally disappointed that a 60 FPS version of this fight exists, and that it's exclusive to Zack's channel. Anyway, the banter between Wiz and Boomstick when the former tries to explain That Man to the latter is just absolutely hilarious and the fight itself was just good old fast paced sword fighting. Overall, a good episode. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 42: Gaara VS Toph...Hoo boy... 'PROS' *Some good jokes *Analysis is good... 'CONS' *...but I'm not gonna lie, the verdict is shit *Voice acting is pretty off *Fight animation is pretty boring looking back *Death is too clean *Too much talking, not enough fighting *Wouldn't Gaara's sand resist Toph's bending abilities considering its controlled by his late mom? *Not sure about the whole reasoning behind Toph's Seismic Sense 'Overall' Yeah, pretty hard not to point out what exactly is wrong with this episode. Now I'll admit that I was glad when Toph won the first time I saw this, but the more I thought about it, the reasoning applied for her victory is pretty damn ballsy. Also, wouldn't Gaara's sand resist being bent by Toph considering his late mom's soul was fused into it? Not mention, the fight itself was actually pretty boring looking back. What else can I say that everyone on this wiki hasn't said already? I may be a big Avatar fan, but even I'll admit that this episode's verdict is beyond bogus. 'Rating' *''Bad'' Episode 43: Boba Fett VS Samus Aran Remastered 'PROS' *Good way of reworking the analysis from the original episode *Making fun of Disney retconning the Star Wars EU *Some good jokes *Wiz and Boomstick no longer sound like they're the same person (referring to the original Boba VS Samus) *Gorgeous animation *How the rest of Boba's frozen body crumbles after his head is blown off *Same accurate result from last time *This was probably the first episode that was dedicated to someone who passed away, in this case, R.I.P. Monty Oum 'CONS' *Not really sure what's up with Samus' gun suddenly turning into a lightsaber *I honestly expected Samus to have some voice clips after she took off the Power Suit *Did anyone really ask for this? *I was gonna put the credits in the pros until I realized that the song was cut out from both the YouTube and ScrewAttack releases, which is odd since Rooster Teeth kinda owns ScrewAttack now. 'Overall' For being a remaster of Death Battle's very first episode, this was pretty neat, albeit somewhat unnecessary. It really shows just how far Death Battle has come along ever since its debut in December of 2010, not to mention, this is one hell of an improvement over the original version of the first episode. Also, if I'm being honest, this is probably when Torrian's animations started to get really good, with the production values and what not. P.S. R.I.P. Monty Oum. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 44: Chuck Norris VS Segata Sanshiro 'PROS' *" Because Chuck Norris killed that man." *The Chuck Norris Facts, my favorite being #71 *Using Chuck's movies and that one cartoon for the sake of feats *The Kamen Rider reference in Segata's Background portion *The fact Segata is dating a video game character *Sega really does need Segata more than ever *The analysis for both is just hilariously bizarre *The way the fight starts *BEARD FIST!!! *The fight animation as a whole is just fun to watch *When Chuck and Segata get the "DEAL WITH IT!" shades 'CONS' *What was it that Chuck said to Segata? *The Segata clones appearing seemed all too sudden *An animation error that occurs when Chuck is pushing one half of the Earth down *The teaser for a certain, upcoming fight...I'll get to that one soon... 'Overall' Hot damn, for a joke episode, this was friggin' awesome! I'll admit that I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about this particular episode when it was first announced, but after seeing it, they've won me over. The analysis was just plain funny and the fight was a pretty entertaining watch. I'll definitely come back to this one for a few good laughs! 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 45: Guts VS Nightmare 'PROS' *Interesting trivia about the Frisian freedom fighter with a 7' tall sword *Analysis is good *The Chuck VS Segata constellation cameo *Animation's nice... *The aftermath where Guts just shoots crossbows at the broken Soul Edge 'CONS' *Jokes were pretty bland *They could've talked more about Night Terror *...though it's kinda boring *The reasoning for Guts' win coulda been a little better (i.e.: More besides "Guts fights demons league above him and wins daily") *Killing blow was lame 'Overall' Huh, now that I've revisited this for my Season 2 retrospective, I thought that I would end up giving this the Good rating. But after looking at the pros and cons for this episode, I can honestly say that this episode is pretty dull. Not bad, just dull. There were a few things I like, but there's also some things I don't like. Also, while I don't see any problems with Guts winning, the reasoning could have been better. Overall, this episode is nothing special. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 46: Iron Man VS Lex Luthor '''PROS *In Iron Man's analysis, let that scene where Tony gets hit with his own bomb be the ultimate description of irony *In Lex's analysis, Reason for baldness: classified *The fact that Lex stealing 40 cakes is canon *Analysis is good *Some good jokes *Voice acting is good *Animation's great *The nods to other franchises (such as Dragon Ball, Kingdom Hearts, Gundam, etc.) in the first half of the fight *Lex reacting to the Batmobile being thrown at him *The climax *"I'm not here...I'm jogging..." *I agree with the results to an extent... 'CONS' *The scene where Lex's kryptonite axe gets crushed, which makes it look like Lex is where Iron Man would be standing *The lip-syncing for Tony's facial motion capture is off *Lex's scream for when he gets killed was pretty lame *...though I'm also a tad iffy about it 'Overall' And here we have one of my favorite matchups this season. While I do have some issues with the animation and I'm a tad iffy about the verdict, the fight itself was a lot of fun to watch and the analysis was pretty well done. Also, there were some pretty fun moments in the first half of the fight, and the voice actors do a pretty good job. Oh, and Lex stealing 40 cakes actually being canon is damn funny. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 47: Beast VS Goliath 'PROS' *Mr. Cephalopod in Beast's analysis *Only Goliath can make "Jalapeño" sound cool *Goliath's analysis was alright 'CONS' *Beast's analysis was pretty "meh..." *Jokes weren't that good *Fight was really short and lame *The way Beast just sits there not trying to defend himself as Goliath wails on him *Kinda iffy about the verdict *Normally, I don't talk about voice clips, but what they used is pretty generic 'Overall' Honestly, this episode doesn't really have much going for it. The fight for this episode is jst beyond lame, Beast's analysis could have used some work and the jokes here just make me want to fall asleep. I could go on a bit longer, but honestly, there's not much for me to really talk about, next fight. 'Rating' *''Bad'' Episode 48: Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher 'PROS' *Subtle details in the analysis *Some good jokes *Analysis is good *Subtle ScrewAttack references (i.e.: Jump'N'Shoot Attack, Metal Gear Ben) *Voice acting is good, especially Christopher Sabat as Solid Snake *Great fight animation *Snake and Sam: !' *Snake and Otacon arguing over the use of cardboard boxes *The climax *Death sure leaves an impression *Solid outcome and reasoning 'CONS *The multi-colored sky in the beginning of the animation is kinda distracting *Lighting is off at points *This scene, which I have no idea how to describe (14:37 to 14:42) *Music is kinda unfitting 'Overall' And here we have another favorite episode of mine. While the music was kinda unfitting for this fight and I do have some issues with the animation, the episode sure as hell delivered an entertaining fight between gaming's masters of stealth. And as someone who really only knew about Snake from playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the longest time, his analysis was pretty neat to learn about. Overall, I'll definitely consider revisiting this one every so often. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 49: Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom 'PROS' *"Conceived by midi-chlorians...ugh" *Subtle details in Doom's background *Boomstick calling out Doom for getting an easy doctorate and talking about his "Poultry Science" degree *Some good jokes, Doctor joke not withstanding *Analysis is good *The way the fight starts... *Animation is pretty good, sure is a step up from Beast VS Goliath *Vader smacking the Doombot into the camera *Reasonable outcome 'CONS' *...Though as someone who's not well-versed in Star Wars, I must ask: Can Vader really Force-choke someone through a messenger droid? *What was with Boomstick's "consult a doctor" joke in Vader's analysis? *Fight kinda gets less exciting after the real Doom shows up *The sequence where Doom transports himself and Vader could have use some flashier effects *Climax is pretty lame 'Overall' For being Mali's last Death Battle hurrah, this was pretty good. While I don't quite enjoy it as much as say Kirby VS Majin Buu and the battle gets a little less epic once the real Doom steps up, the animation is definitely a step up from Mali's previous episode, Beast VS Goliath, and there are a few good jokes (for the most part). Overall, a decent sendoff for former Death Battle animator Mali. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 50: Goku VS Superman 2...God, help me...Let's get this over with. 'PROS' *Interesting way of going through the opening analysis, given that this is a rematch *How Boomstick talks about his ridiculous backstory for a little bit in the beginning *Gorgeous looking animation *Great voice acting *Nice nods to DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi, DBZ: Battle of Gods and Man of Steel during the fight *"Alive " by Brandon Yates is a dope track *If you've seen the SGC edition of this episode, either at the convention itself or the livestream, I'm sure you'll remember this little gem 'CONS' *Jokes were pretty meh, tbh *How Superman's character model suddenly flips horizontally at some points, it's a little distracting. Not to mention, Goku's model looks like it was flipped horizontally given the position of the Turtle Hermit logo on his gi. (Not saying that they're bad models or anything). *Some of Superman's dialogue feels really out of character *This notorious scene (11:11 to 11:37) *"Unlimited Power Superman" NLF, much? *The fact that this episode exists 'Overall' (sigh) Why is this episode a thing? No seriously, WHY is this episode even a thing? Aside from like, maybe MILLIONS of YouTube commenters, I don't think anyone here on this wiki really asked for this fight (although I could be wrong about that). Also, while I don't have an issue with Superman winning, they really overevaluated him here by saying that he has "unlimited power", I doubt he would have such power without at least absorbing power from the sun first. Even the Man of Steel himself has limits. I will give credit where credit is due, though; the animation for this episode is just gorgeous, the way they did the opening analysis was pretty cool, and Brandon Yates' music track: "Alive" is just fun to listen to. But aside from that, this episode's existence is beyond pointless. If you want more reasons why I'm not a big fan of this episode, go read this journal entry on DeviantArt . I pray that there never be a Goku VS Superman 3 after all this. Again, credit where credit is due. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' Episode 51: Donkey Kong VS Knuckles 'PROS' *Expand Dong reference in DK's analysis *Echidna dick jokes *In Knuckles' background: "According to a recent redesign, evidently skips leg day" *Some other good jokes *Overall good and funny analysis *The way the fight starts *"Oh no!" *Animation is great, this is honestly my favorite 2D animation from Zack, and my favorite 2D animated fight of the whole season. *Climax is pretty fun *Even in death, Knuckles is not safe from DK's coconuts *Good to see they didn't overestimate DK's moon punch, given that it's much smaller than our moon *Given how they went with this (being a base form vs. base form scenario), I agree with the results... 'CONS' *...Had super forms been included though, I'd be singing a different tune, and I don't necessarily agree with the "Strong Kong and Hyper Knuckles counteract each other " sentiment entirely, I'll get to that shortly *How DK's tie constantly disappears and reappers over the course of the fight *Though I'm used to it nowadays DK's sprites looked pretty offputing the first time I saw them *Death was a bit lacking 'Overall' Before I start going into what I think about this episode, let's get into the whole "Strong Kong = Hyper Knuckles" business. From a gameplay perspective, yes, this does seem to make sense. Given how they both operate as glorified invincibility power-ups in-game, Strong Kong and Hyper Knuckles would counteract each other. From a cinematic perspective however, that's a horse of a different color. If super forms were included, then Knux would pretty much win against DK, especially since Strong Kong doesn't really have any actual, cinematic feats. I can definitely see what they were thinking, but it is a little far-fetched. So in a way, I both agree AND disagree with the results. Then again, the Super Emeralds are dubiously canon and the Crystal Coconut in the DKC cartoon does have wish granting powe---I'm sorry, back to the review. I'm just gonna go out and say it, this is my favorite Mario VS Sonic themed fight in the series. While I do have some issues with DK's sprites, and (again) issues with the "Strong Kong and Hyper Knuckles counteract each other" sentiment, the fight animation for this episode was just too good for me to really care, and the analysis for this episode is pretty damn funny with jokes galore. So yeah, you get the picture here. Regardless of the verdict, Donkey Kong VS Knuckles is easily one of my favorite Death Battle episodes, and my favorite 2D episode of Season 2. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 52: Wolverine VS Raiden 'PROS' *The screenshot of Spock beating Wolverine with a Vulcan pinch *Boomstick's summary of Raiden's life *In Raiden's Feats section: "Survived the mindf##king plot of Metal Gear Solid 2" *Some other good jokes here & there *Analysis is pretty good... *Xander Mobus does a pretty good 90's Wolverine impression *Wolverine's jabs at other franchises (i.e.: Voltron, Terminator, and RoboCop) *Animation is pretty damn good *The climax 'CONS' *...Though I'm not really sure about the results, especially after looking into the different classes of Adamantium *As cool of a music track "Exo " is, I can barely hear the lyrics *How the music suddenly just cuts out when Wolverine and Raiden hit the floor *Tim Paige sounds a little off as Raiden (i.e.: Sounds a little bit too high) *The gore looks pretty weird, particularly on Wolverine when he heals 'Overall' This was a pretty cool episode. While I have some issues with the outcome, animation, etc., and I don't think that it's quite on the same level of quality as, say Iron Man VS Lex Luthor or Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher for me personally, the fight itself was still pretty entertaining to watch, and there's some good humor here and there, especially with some of Wolverine's dialogue. Overall, an enjoyable episode with a rather questionable verdict. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 53: Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki 'PROS' *The repeating clip of Cell bitch-slaping Hercule out of the ring *Subtle details in Dan's background page *Some good jokes *Analysis is good *Animation is pretty good... *Some funny moments in the fight itself *The contents of Hercule's capsules *Dan joining his disappointed dad in the aftermath *Reasonable outcome 'CONS' *...But I'm not gonna lie, it does kinda drag *Voice acting is okay, but slightly off *How the capsules clicking sound doesn't go off, when the they fall out of Hercule's robe, it's a little weird *You can tell that the capsules were pretty much photoshopped, it's a little distracting 'Overall' Pretty good. While the fight itself does kinda drag on and the voice acting is okay at best, the analysis gets some good laughs and the animation is pretty decent. Some would argue that the animation holds this episode back, but really, when you take into account exactly who's fighting, it makes sense that the fight itself is animated the way it is, and I don't think anyone would ever really take a fight between Hercule Satan and Dan Hibiki of all people seriously. Overall, a good episode. 'Rating' *''Good'' TO BE CONTINUED...